I Ended Up Saving the Duke Who Was Meant to Die - Chapter 7.2
“…It’s better not to look. Irene, I’m fine. As soon as I let go, run… outside.”
“I can’t leave you alone. How could I?”
“…Irene, now.”
The hand holding me lost its strength. Only then could I raise my body, and what I saw was blood pooling on the floor.
“No, no. Severus, no!”
I embraced him and infused power. The blood flowed out faster than I could stop it. The wound was clearly too large to heal with just this. Or perhaps my holy power had weakened because Michaelo had taken some of it.
“Just a little, just hold on a little longer!”
I urgently pressed his abdomen with my hands, but it was useless. Between my fingers, red blood flowed endlessly.
“Severus, Severus, stay conscious. You can’t lose consciousness like this! Please, please! We promised to go back together, so… please open your eyes.”
Tears blurred my vision. I wiped them away with the back of my hand to see his face clearly.
“No, please, Severus… open your eyes, I said open your eyes!”
I embraced him and kissed his red lips, trying to infuse power. I felt nothing, but I couldn’t stop. If I didn’t do even this, it truly felt like everything was over. It felt like I was giving up on him myself.
“Hic, no. Don’t go. Open, your eyes… hic. You said you’d protect me! Open your eyes! I said open your eyes! You said spouses should do everything together!”
I raised my voice. Unable to let go of his body, I embraced him and wailed. I undressed him and embraced him, increasing the contact area, but it was useless. I had to hold him here and now.
Lowering my head, feeling his remaining warmth, I cursed myself again and again.
‘Die, die. Why are you the only one alive when you couldn’t save him?’
My chest had been tight for a while. I wish I could stop breathing and follow him in death. No, he wasn’t dead yet. Wasn’t there still warmth left?
Like a madwoman, I put my ear to his chest.
Faintly, but his heart was still beating. I should have been relieved, but my body trembled like an aspen. A fear I had never considered before, and therefore never felt afraid of, was right in front of me. The fear of losing him made me dizzy.
I had to save him somehow. Even if it costs me my life, Severus must not die. He had to live.
“Please, please…”
I muttered, trying to infuse power.
A power that couldn’t save him? He was the only thing I ever wanted. He was the light that came to me when I was living in confinement. The thought that he might still call my name made my blood boil.
“Severus, please…”
I tried to climb on top of him, taking off my clothes to embrace him. But Michaelo wasn’t one to just watch me. A shadow fell over me as I couldn’t let go of him. When I raised my tear-stained face, Michaelo was looking down at me. With a face full of ecstasy, he wore a brighter smile than ever.
“You’re not planning to have intercourse with a dying man in front of me, are you? Though it would be amusing for me to watch. Seeing your completely naked body wouldn’t be bad either.”
Irene clenched her fists and trembled. Michaelo raised his head and laughed triumphantly.
“Irene, you might as well have killed him yourself. Why did you leave my side? Look at this tragedy caused by you. If you had just obediently followed my wishes, unnecessary death could have been avoided.”
“…Severus is not dead.”
“Holding onto a life that will soon end won’t change anything. If only you hadn’t carried out your mission, this wouldn’t have happened. This is the result of your actions, claiming to repay your debt to me.”
“No. This is neither my fault nor a result I caused.”
I glared at him. I would no longer be deceived by his words. The root of all this was not me, but him.
The desire to kill him, Michaelo, welled up within me.
Now I Don’t Care About Restrictions. Restrictions no longer bothered me. I didn’t care if I violated them and suffered pain because of it. In the end, I resolved to kill Michaelo.
“Irene, I’m the only one who loves you now.”
Michaelo’s voice now felt horrifying. I felt power surging throughout my body. The swelling power eventually poured out.
“Michaelo!”
I resent you. I wish you were dead.
I rushed toward him and grabbed his neck. I stared directly into Michaelo’s eyes filled with ecstasy and applied pressure with my hand.
“You don’t deserve it.”
My entire body burned hot. Although there was a rejection response due to the restriction against harming others, the anger boiling in my body suppressed it and pushed him to his limit.
“Die, just die, Michaelo.”
“Kugh, Irene, me who took you in and raised you… are you really going to kill me?”
“Are you trying to act like a parent now?”
It was utterly disgusting. I dragged him onto the broken altar and laid him down.
“If my power overflows like this and my body can’t withstand it and goes berserk, everything will end. Why didn’t you take all my holy power? Draw out my remaining power too, that’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”
Until now, Michaelo had absorbed the power of priests who possessed holy power. They didn’t have as much or as strong holy power as I did. He had been regulating it so that it wouldn’t put too much strain on his body, just enough for what he wanted.
“ARRRGH! Irene! Stop, it. You can’t do this to me.”
“Yes, I can.”
At least he had opportunities. But it was he who kicked all that away and sacrificed others to survive. He stained his hands with blood without hesitation and felt no guilt. He was a devil.
A terrible being that shouldn’t be alive. That’s all he was.
“You killed so many children, and desired me so much, why? I don’t understand why you’re refusing what’s being put in your mouth.”
“Kuhek!”
Blood flowed from Michaelo’s mouth. His body couldn’t withstand it and was rejecting it. I cannot harm people. Then all I needed to do was push in power that he couldn’t endure or accept.
Since he had been absorbing others’ power, he would accept whatever power I pushed in. That seemed to hit the mark as Michaelo twisted his body in pain.
The priests’ bodies are like vessels that hold holy power. And naturally, the size of these vessels differed. My holy power, with abilities like those of a saint, was too great for him to handle.
“If anything happens to Severus, I will truly kill you, Michaelo.”
“ARRRGH! Huk, stop, stop it!”
“You desired immortality so much, why, don’t you want it anymore?”
Red blood gushed from his mouth again. The blood vessels in his whites bulged and he shed tears of blood. The vessel that had been receiving holy power broke. He gasped for breath and crawled on the floor.
“…Irene.”
My reason became clouded. Only a strong anger that I must kill Michaelo before me dominated my mind. I applied pressure to his neck as if I would break it any moment.
“……wife.”
“Ah.”
The strength in my hands loosened at the small voice calling me. When I turned my head, I saw Severus gesturing to me, painfully gazing at me.
“Wife.”
He called me once more. I threw Michaelo to the floor and ran to him. Blood flowed endlessly, but he was smiling. How could he smile when he looked like he was dying?
Tears fell from my eyes.
“Hic, are you okay? We need to get out of here quickly for treatment…”
I kissed his cheek and infused power. I didn’t care about the debris and blood sticking to us. Filled with the thought that I needed to heal him, I embraced and kissed him like a madwoman.
I felt the power I had pushed into Michaelo returning to me. If everything returned, perhaps healing might be possible.
“……darling, don’t stain yourself, with this dirty blood.”
He slowly spoke while holding my hand.
“You don’t have to, bear this…”
He couldn’t finish his words and leaned on me. Seeing him exhale a faint breath, I felt relieved. The kiss seemed to have healed him to some extent. Fortunately, my power, my ability had been fully restored.
“Your Grace! Are you here?!”
Along with footsteps, voices searching for us were heard. The knights who had subdued the priests had come. I supported Severus and shouted.
“Here! We’re here! Quickly, Severus…!”
When the knights cleared away the broken debris, a beam of light entered. They found me and Severus and felt relieved. All the strength left my body.
